Bookbinder



1944. A; FRiEuNDucH 7 2,355,214

BOOK BINDER Filed May 25, 1942 WITNESS INVENTQR W flamrihzwpuc/l ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 8, 1944 BOOKBINDER Albert Freundlich. New York, N. Y., assignor to Spiral Binding Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 25, 1942, Serial No. 444,329

.1 Claim. (cum-21) This invention relates to book binders, particularly binders of: the type which are made from sheets of flexible material.

Book binders of the type with which this invention is concerned arev usually cut or formed from a sheet of thermoplastic or like material in the form of a strip having transversely projecting fingers adapted to'be extended through appropriate openings in the leaves of the book to be bound. As such material when made in thin I strips is exceedingly flexible and flimsy, it has been theusualpractice to utilize strips of such material thick enough so that binders made therefrom have a back portion and fingers of sufficient, rigidity to successfully maintain the sheets of thejbook in book form and to withstand the rough usage which books so bound are subjected. A lighter, thinner binder of this type, however,

possesses many advantages over these prior binders, provided it can be constructed to successfully accomplish the purposes for which itiwas. devised. Such ,a binder is provided by the present invention, which not only maintains the .sheets of the book in; book 'formand will successfully withstand relatively hard usage, but will increase the ease with which the sheets of the book may be manipulated, will not scratch or mar articles on which the book may be placed, will have a more pleasing appearance than prior binders of this type, and can be manufactured and attached to the sheets of the book at relativel low cost.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a book provided with a preferred form of the binder; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the binder before it is applied to the book; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the binder as applied to a book; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the binder illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view, partly in section, of the binder; Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the binder shown in Fig. 5; Fig. '7 is a top plan view of a modified form of binder, and Fig. 8 is a side view of the binder shown in Fig. 7.

In the binder illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawing, the fingers I0 thereof are connected to one another at their attached ends by a series of web-like portions I I integrally formed with the connected portions I2 of such fingers. The portions II are embossed or raised with relation to the connected portions I2 of the fingers I0, so that such portions I I and I2 of the binder form a backing having a somewhat corrugated appearance, The free portions of the fingers I0 are bent in the form of loops in such manner that the free fingers ends of the fingers are'brought into overlapping relation with the connected ends thereof and lie intermediate the embossed web-like portions II, as is more clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing. The lengths of the free portions of the finger I0 are such that the free ends thereof will overlap the connected ends I2 thereof a distance approximately equal to the lengths of the web-like-portions 1 I. With thisconstruction, the backing of the binder will'be strengthened not only by reason of its corrugated form but by reason of the overlapping free ends of the fingers.

1 The binder is made rrcm arelatively thin sheet of thermoplastic or other suitable flexible material and is formed by first stamping or cutting to form a fiat blank having the general contour of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing and comprising a continuous back portion from which extend the transverse fingers -I [I which are disposed in spaced parallelrelation/Lillie I0 are relatively wide and have outer rounded ends. The portions of the backing intermediate the fingers I 0 are concavely formed at their inner longitudinal edges. The blank is then treated to extend the fingers I0 through the longitudinal back portion of the blank and to make the fingers I0 continuous and distinct throughout their entire lengths, as is shown more clearl in Fig. 2 of the drawing. At the same time, the intermediate connecting web-like portions II are embossed or raised a distance approximating the thickness of the material, as can be seen more clearly in Fig. 5 of the drawing. The binder blank is then curled about a longitudinal axis to give it a cylindrical form and so that the free ends of the fingers H] will fit into overlapping relation with the connected portions I2 thereof intermediate the web-like portions I I (see Figs. 3 and 5). These operations are carried out by means of pressure and/or heat and the use of forming means. If the material from which the binder is made is thermoplastic material, the original cut flat blank is subjected to pressure while hot to give it the form illustrated in Fig, 2 of the drawing. The binder may also be curled in this operation or curled in a subsequent operation while hot to give it a cylindrical form. If the former procedure is followed, the mandrel about which the binder is curled should be suitably shaped to make possible the formation of the embossed por-' tions I I. As the material used is relatively thin, relatively low temperatures may be used in the forming operations. When the binder is cooled, the fingers, due to the relative thirmess of the material of which they are constituted, may be uncurled readily to enable them to be inserted with ease into the apertures of the stack of pages to be bound.

In binding a book, any suitable method may be employed to uncurl the fingers of the binder and such operation may be accomplished without the use of any special mechanism due to the flexibility and ease with which the thin fingers It can be manipulated. After the fingers have been inserted through the perforations of the book, there may be applied to the free ends thereof before they are allowed to recoil, a cementitious or other suitable binder material which will causesuch ends to adhere to the overlapped portions N2 of such fingers. These parts are then connected together to complete the binding operation. The fingers can also be sealed in place by applying a dash of acetone or like material on the outside.

It will be understood from the foregoing, that the binder. of the present invention, due to the relative thinness of the material used, is inexpensive, can be readily manufactured and will not require the use of any special means in the binding operations. At the same time, due to the corrugated construction formed by extending the fingers and making them distinct throughout the entire width of the blank and by embossing the integral connecting portions II, the binder is given a strength and sturdiness far greater than that possessed by prior binders. This condition is enhanced by the support given to the overlapped, connected portions I 2 of the fingers by the overlapping free end portions of such fingers which overlap the former 'a distance approximately equal to the lengths of the intermediate connecting portions H, as can be seen in Figs. 3 to 5 of the drawing. By connecting these portions together, a relatively stiif, rigid structure is attained with the use of relatively flimsy, flexible material. In addition to the foregoing features, this construction has the advantage that there are no projecting overlapping portions, thereby reducing to a minimum the likelihood of displacement of the fingers during usage or the tendency of the binder to mar or scratch surfaces with which it may come in contact. This binder construction also has a pleasing and distinctive appearance which makes it especially attractive as a binder.

While I have in the foregoing described a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be apparent that modifications'and changes therein may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, in

- Figs. '7 and 8 of the drawing there is shown a binder which is similar to the binder previously described, except that the connecting portions are not embossed but are fiat throughout. In all other respects, however, the binder illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 embodies the structural features of the binder illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawing and the advantages which fiow from such features.

I claim: I

,A binder for insertion into a stack of sheets provided with a series of aligned perforations along the binding edges thereof, said binder being made from a relatively thin and flimsy sheet of flexible material and composed of a plurality of fingers arranged in spaced parallel relation and arcuately curved web-like portions connecting one end of said fingers together, said fingers being distinct throughout their entire lengths and having a length equal to the width'of the blank from which they are formed and said weblike portion being raised relative to said fingers, the length of such fingers being such that they form a loop extending through an arc greater than 360, said fingers having relatively little resistance against forces tending to deform them and being arcuately curved so that the free ends of such fingers are positioned intermediate the raised web-like portions and overlap the exterior surfaces of the connected portions of such fingers a distance approximately equalto the length of said web-like portions.

ALBERT FREUNDLICH. 

